The pandemic has certainly left its fair share of tumult and unpredictability in its wake. The past year and a half has catapulted the world at large into a surge of digital dependence. From groceries to clothing and décor, to medicine and beyond, we have all relied on online shopping and marketplaces to meet the unprecedented demands of the time. This shift in behavior continues to unfurl in many ways:

• A growing reliance on ecommerce (digital sales are expected to reach $906B this year).
• Increased adoption of social media (13% increase in users globally).
• A 57% majority vote for “watching tv and movies at home” as a top-three entertainment source.

Long story short: Consumers have given plenty of sensitive data in every one of these transactions.

As consumers continue to favor digitally-powered experiences, marketers are left to shoulder the responsibility of achieving omnipresence. They must battle the rising cost of customer acquisition and deliver a cohesive user experience across the buyer journey—today’s consumers resoundingly demand touchpoint consistency. It’s only natural that as consumers put sensitive data out there during every transaction, their demands have rightfully evolved to include expectations for how brands handle their personal information.

Ever-expanding lists of logins, social media platforms, apps, and streaming services have only fueled consumer skepticism regarding the methods and locations brands employ to store their personal information. Consumers now want and need to know if brands are acting responsibly by taking the appropriate steps to protect consumer data, as well as what actions they themselves should take to ensure their personal information isn’t at risk.

In response to consumer privacy concerns, there’s been a range of global regulatory changes to protect consumers and ensure an optimal digital experience. The central philosophy of the regulations ensure that personal data belongs to the person, not a company. The recent privacy changes include:

• The Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which is a unique identifier for advertisers that is used to target and measure the effectiveness of user-level ads across phones and tablets.
• Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), which is a feature Apple added to Safari browsers in 2017 to curtail companies’ ability to monitor user behavior via cookies.
• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is a legal framework out of the European Union (EU) that regulates the collection and processing of personal information for individuals in the EU.
• The California Privacy Act (CCPA), which provides California residents with control over the personal information that businesses collect about them as well as arms them with rights over their data that is collected.

While data privacy may seem daunting on the surface, there are action items that marketers can take to ensure they are aligned with all of these privacy measures, including getting educated on data privacy, talking to providers across your tech stack, knowing your performance marketing tracking type, involving your tech team, leveraging solutions across the technology ecosystem, and fulfilling transparency requirements.

—Katie Spurkeland, Director of Product Marketing, Partnerize